6 reasons why Echo Echo Festival is making a difference to audiences and artists

As the sixth edition of Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement gets underway have a read about what some past audience members and participating artists had to say about the international festival…

Inspiring audiences

“Brilliant! I wanted to watch them every day, every hour, every moment of my life. I will never forget it!”

“This was like something I have never experienced before. The strength beauty and storytelling of the artists was nothing short of mesmerising. I will definitely want to see this dance company again. Thank you Echo Echo.”

“Exhilarating, spine tingling, never imagined so many words could be left unsaid.”

“Inspiring on so many levels. An amazing range of talent from so many disciplines of such high quality is rarely seen in Derry. The festival is extraordinary.”

Echo Echo Festival with two primary schools in Donemana

Working in local schools

“Thanks for today. It was a wonderful experience this morning. The way the performers adapted to the spontaneous participation of some of our pupils was truly magical. I wish we had it videoed. A young man with severe learning difficulties said to me during the show, “This is amazing”. It is a rare occasion to have external performers so in tune with the needs of our children. The feedback was incredible.”

”We found the story-telling and music enthralling and appreciated the connection that the dancers made with each other and the audience. Our students spoke at great length about the dance afterwards and how much they enjoyed the performance. Many thanks to the company for coming to our school.”

“Everyone can participate in these workshops, and this is what makes them truly special: professional dancers, children, pensioners, dance amateurs and teenagers… Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company provides the space for people to come together and relate to each other.”

“I loved it. It was imaginative. I really liked the fact that the children were encouraged to take part.”

“Echo Echo is a place like no other. It is the only performance space/theatre I have attended over a long life that has such a unique and welcoming atmosphere, both for audience members and participants.”

“Lovely! First time ever watching something like this. The kids loved it, the dancing and singing and music were all fantastic! Not a peep!”

“It was incredibly easy working with Echo Echo to organise our performances during the festival. As a company, we really appreciated how quickly we could communicate with the different members of the team. Any questions we had, regarding the publicity materials or the technical aspect, were answered extremely quickly. The whole team at Echo Echo went out of their way to make us feel welcome and at home – it was truly a pleasure to work in such an environment.”

“Performing two nights in a row had a particular impact on the development of this work. It gave us the opportunity to see how we and the work responded to a repeat performance. In fact we found our second performance to be much better than the first. It also gave the opportunity to see international work and performers which is inspiring and allowed us to make connections with what is happening elsewhere in the world and in dance.”

“I would like to stress how important I feel an Open Call evening is as part of a festival. Many festivals don’t do Open Calls and it can be difficult for emerging artists to access these platforms. I really appreciated this opportunity and I would like to thank everyone of the Echo Echo team sincerely.”

“The various artists, organisers etc were very open and curious to get to know me, showed an interest in my work, shared ideas and thoughts; all this included made the festival very special. This creates interesting meetings and moments for all to grow, expand as a human beings and creative artists.”

LAVA-Dansproduktion workshop at Echo Echo Festival 2017 with local and national visitors

Connecting the dance community in Ireland

“Many many thanks for your overall innovative approaches to spreading dance across Ireland, and coming directly to us as professional practitioners throughout Ireland, with your workshop/ info tour. Very innovative and effective.”

“I loved the wholesome and caring feeling of the whole festival. I appreciated the inclusivity; it is actually a quite rare thing. I also loved the fact we got to work and learn with artists whose performances we saw. It made both the performances and the classes more meaningful and resourceful.”

“We absolutely loved Derry. The craft village, the vintage stores, the wall walk. We took a tour on the third day and loved it. We discovered the long and heavy history of Derry. Neither of us had ever been to Derry before and we would both gladly go back.”

“Thank YOU for welcoming us so open-heartedly, and allowing us to experience one of the most inspiring weeks of our life! We truly had a wonderful time, not only on stage but also during the workshops, the symposium, and exploring Derry and its environs!”

Join Echo Echo to move or be moved!

You can get involved in Echo Echo Festival of Dance and Movement. Come and try a performance, class or special event for yourself!